Where to get a barrel?

The wife purchased a wine barrel at Del Dotto Winery in Napa. However it cost me/us $150 to buy and $150 to ship. It is really cool and is great in front of our beer/wine closet, but I doubt it is worth the money.

 

Prairie was selling them for $25 a pop this summer. I would assume most breweries that use them will probably try to sell them at some point instead of just throwing them away.

 

You could also try a hay and feed store or a gardening store like agway. If it's just decoration it does not have to have had bourbon or even beer in it or anything like that.

 

Best chance is probably like the poster above me mentioned - look to a winery. If you're wanting a charred oak bourbon barrel - best of luck to ya, but with the barrel shortage going on, it's unlikely that you'll be able to find one. Most breweries can't even get their hands on used bourbon barrels for aging their beers. The last distillery tour I went on back in July (Buffalo Trace, Frankfort, KY) they indicated that the barrel shortage was so severe and the demand from breweries was so high that they were having to turn down all offers for used barrels, even when breweries were willing to pay thousands of dollars just to get their hands on one or two used barrels from their lower tier brands (i.e. not your PvWs and Eagle Rares, but more like your Ancient Age, Sazerac).

 

Home Depot buys old Jack Daniels(?) barrels, cuts them in half, and sells them as planters. I'm sure similar stores do that as well. Probably not what you're going for, but if you're feeling handy with some wood glue. . . .

Also, it wouldn't hurt to ask your local liquor store to let you know if/when they're getting rid of any. We get them from distributors on occasion, but we don't need more than two, so we gave our old Clos du Bois chardonnay barrel away to a customer a few weeks ago to age homemade cider in.

It seems like distributors used to give away previously used barrels, but with the boom in barrel aged beers/ciders/etc, I think they're getting recycled and the stores are getting dummy barrels. That's fine with us though, since the real ones are f'ing heavy.

 

I don't think he's looking for a freshly emptied Pappy barrel for decoration.

There was a brewery from NJ selling their barrels after they were done aging beer in them for $100 each.

 

Do a search in the Homebrewing forum. Homebrewers get barrels to create their own barrel-aging program, and several threads in that forum have tips that might help you. Here's one: http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...rchasing-barrels-for-aging.63878/#post-873824

 

Not that you're close but I think Greenbush in Sawyer, MI usually sells used barrels for $50.

 

Check with Weyerbacher, they were selling off a few of their used Insanity barrels at one point, always worth a phone call or e-mail.

 

Victory was also selling barrels at the last Dark Intrigue release

 

Allagash and Jack's Abby sold them lately. I think $50-75 per. Also, Craigslist is worth a looksee.

 

Like a few others mentioned, check with breweries and wineries. One of our local wineries sells barrels frequently. I just recently picked up a Jim Beam barrel from Thirsty Dog for $100. I believe they still have some left if you are not too far into PA

 

I would call/email any breweries that barrel age anything w/in a drivable distance to find out when they plan on selling empties. A brewery in Harrisonburg, Va (3 Bros) sold some for 50-75 on a first come, first served basis. Maybe other breweries have lists you could get on?

 

As mentioned before, Weyerbacher sells off their barrels from time to time. I believe they were going for $40 each last time. Seem to sell out quickly though.

 

ebay has lots of different barrels listed

 

Best bet is to ask a brewery that barrel ages if they sell them when they are done, most do.